Let it go! Steals the show!

What a first poetry contest of Kids Sea Camp of the KSC summer! We had everything; deep thoughtful, personal and funny poems — and then we had Tanya Conklin.

Tanya Conklin enjoys the joys of her families first Kids Sea Camp vacation in Bonaire at Buddy Dive Resort.

Tanya Conklin, the mother of two beautiful daughters was quiet and reserved all week. Pleasant, kind and (well, just a very nice unassuming person). She had a smile on her face all week and said “good morning” at breakfast everytime she saw me.

But on poetry night, Tanya blasted into Frozen’s “Let it Go” with such force everyone was awestruck. Not only was it the best performance of the night, it might well be one of the best performances of the KSC summer. Tanya Conklin really knows how to “Let it go.”

Poetry Recount!

Request for a recount comes the day after contest

Columbia, South Carolina, Kids Sea Camp offices

Anse Chastanet has something for the “non-diver” in all of us; Incredible beaches, a peaceful lagoon for swimming and snorkeling and a delightful beach bar to watch the amazing sunset on St. Lucia.

In a rare and unusual request from an anonymous source received the letter was sent to Tom Peyton, Vice-President of Kids Sea Camp and Family Dive Adventures on Saturday, November 29th.

The letter clearly states a feeling of discrimination from the “non-divers” by the Kids Sea Camp “all divers” panel that could possibly impact the choices made by the judges. The poem in question was written and performed during the poetry night on Friday, November 28th. In fact, the team, in protest would like to relinguish their prizes. This is the first time in the 15 year history of the contest such a request has ever been made.

“We are looking into the seriousness of the accusations,” Tom Peyton responded to the letter, “It is our corporate policy to looking into any dissatisfaction from any of our families. Even the appearance of any prejudice would be considered a major issue for us. We have a private investigations team dealing with the issue.”

The protest letter even calls into question the accuracy of Peyton’s homemade clap-o-meter. The device, made from the Vice-President’s two arms, two hands and ears reflects the power of the applause by the group.

“My clap-o-meter, yeah, it’s part of the issue,” Peyton laughed, “We have been looking for an affordable replacement for it for years. But we have not been able to find a solution.”

When asked about changing the outcome of the contest Peyton responded, “We believe in our contest and the outcome will not change. But, it’s doesn’t mean some sort of corrective action isn’t going to take place.”

What an amazing night of poetry

The poetry night always held on the last night of the Kids Sea Camp week is normally a special night. But this week at St. Lucia seemed even more remarkable than normal. Maybe it was the gentle rain with the moon dancing in-between the clouds that brought our families prose and verve a little more to the surface. There was a little more energy and edge during the night.

As Dylan Thomas would say:

No one went quietly into that good night.

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night

This poetry contest live up to the Thomas’ poem. A memorable night — a special night — that Margo and I will remember forever. Thank you all for putting so much effort into the evening.

Let’s go chasing rainbows. In Anse Chastanet, during the Kids Sea Camp Thanksgiving week we saw five single rainbows and two double rainbows spreading across the caribbean sky.

First place: Teen Boat Dive Briefing, The Poem

By Tyler Jenss

Today our dive will go sixty feet deep,

And forty five minutes is the time to keep.

To get in the water, just do a big stride,

Then fill up your BC and wait for your guide.

When you get the Ok, you can start to go down,

And put in your regulator so that you don’t drown.

Watch for rocks and sand, because they can go fast,

And if you see an eel you may get harassed,

But if it starts coming towards you just give it a kick,

And keep an eye out for some slippery dick.

When you get two thumbs up, start to head to the surface,

But don’t go too fast ‘cause you’ll make Kenton nervous.

Swimming straight to the boat can lead to decapitation,

This would undoubtedly ruin your family vacation!

When you get to the ladder, go up one-at-a-time,

First take off your fins and then start to climb.

A bang from the boat means an issue atop,

So ascend at one-foot-per-second with no safety stop.

If you hear there’s a problem, don’t ask any questions,

Just go to the surface and then wait for directions.

Keep an eye on your air, and let it be known,

Seven hundred pounds is our caution zone.

If you run out of air, do not be upset,

And the number one rule is, try not to get wet!

First place

By Emma Svitil

When swimming around in the deep ocean blue,

I’ve found some thoughts that just come to you.

Granted some are silly, like my hot dog joke.
But others are profound and need to be written.

We’ve reached many epiphanies down there in the blue,

and now I’d like to share one of mine with you.

The first dive I went on I saw many a thing.

I saw corals, rocks and some long lost ring,

but the one thing I saw that really stood out…

Was none other than the trumpet fish with his long snout!

I remember him clearly as I swam through the arch.

He was silver and shiny and made my heart lurch!

Afterwards as I swam on, thinking on this,

I realized-with me, there was something amiss.

See I’ve always thought I was different and special,

much like this fish I was shiny and precious.

But I suddenly realized that no one else cared.

They didn’t remember that trumpet fish there.

No one on a dive boat says “Did you see that?”

About the poor trumpet fish and others like that.

All everyone cares about is rarity and size.

But they don’t believe unless they see it with their eyes.

I think some of us believe we are fish in the pack.

We’re trout’s and the guppies and the gold fish snacks.

We’re here for a while, we swim around, float.

Then we get eaten or kidnapped or both!

And we think no one cares, we think no one has noticed.

We see the divers swim on, and we see them demote us.

They turn us into another object, a thing.

A backdrop for all that they want to be seeing.

And maybe it’s true. Maybe we are just some fish.

But that’s not important, what’s important is this:

I will never forget that one trumpet fish.

That fish was so special, he couldn’t be missed.

At least by me, see, that’s where it counts.

I can travel the world; I can make my rounds,

But I won’t forget him and that’s where its true

That that is how somebody feels about you.

For most of the divers you may not be special.

They’ll swim on by, and then they’ll just board the vessel.

They they’ll leave and forget and move on to the next. But for one person, just maybe, they’ll stay and they’ll rest.

They’ll take all the pictures; they’ll put you in logs.

They’ll remember there depth and the exact time and all.

Or the things that happened the moment they saw you

That one special fish

The best of all

You.

Second place

60’s Diving Medley: (sung to the tunes of Nat King Cole’s “Love” and The Weavers “Lion Sleeps Tonight”)

By the Molkentin Family

S: is for the Sea that we explore.
C: keeps us Coming back for more and more
U: is the Underwater life galore
B: The Bubbles
And A: we sure Adore. Kids Sea Camp.

Divin’ trips with kids sea camp are just the best
They fulfill our family’s diving quests.

Kids sea camp’s shown us new spots on the map
Utila, Bonaire, Palau
The Grenadines, St. Lucia and Yap
Come, along and join the family fun
Kids dive safe
Under Margo’s thumb

B: Beautiful

O: Outstanding

N: New

A: Amazing

I: Inspirational

R: Rocky reef

E: Beautiful

E: Exciting

Latest Testimonial

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Family poems

Let it go! Steals the show! What a first poetry contest of Kids Sea Camp of the KSC summer! We had everything; deep thoughtful, personal and funny poems — and then we had Tanya Conklin. Tanya Conklin, the mother of two beautiful daughters was quiet and reserved all week. Pleasant, kind and (well, just a very […]

Poetry Recount! Request for a recount comes the day after contest Columbia, South Carolina, Kids Sea Camp offices In a rare and unusual request from an anonymous source received the letter was sent to Tom Peyton, Vice-President of Kids Sea Camp and Family Dive Adventures on Saturday, November 29th. The letter clearly states a feeling of […]

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